Do yourself a favor.

Get your nose out of your smartphone. Go down to Yosemite Avenue and Main Street and take a look at the 10 faces you’ll see smiling at you from the wall of the Manteca Bedquarters.

Bill Castillo. Leland Elliott. Maria Huarte. John Machado. Avis Wessling Brewster. Jay Scalf. Woodrow Brumley. Bud Dickman. Doris Williams.

If you have no inkling of who these people are, let me help. They are the reason you and half the world today have the freedom to text and surf the Internet to your heart’s content. They are why the government isn’t rounding up people worshipping as they chose on Sundays and shipping them off to a desolate camp or worse.

It is because of men and women like them that you are free to travel where you wish this Independence Day weekend and can enjoy the bounty of a free nation where those with a dream can make their fortunes devising products and services that 75 years ago weren’t even on Buck Rogers’ radar.

Had Hitler, Mussolini and Tojo — the ultimate evil Axis — prevailed life in the United States today would be more like it is in North Korea.

The Manteca Mural Society creation fittingly dubbed “Spirit of America” is about more than just the faces you see there. It represents the 957 Manteca men and women who served in World War II including the 35 that did not return. It also represents the sacrifices made on the home front by thousands more.

The war ended 70 years ago. It’s ancient history to most of us. What those dark days were like from Dec. 7, 1941 and the unconditional surrender of Japan on Aug. 10, 1945 is a mere abstract especially to young people who enthusiastically embrace the freedoms secured by the blood and sweat of countless millions before them.

The mural is also more than just about the role of Manteca residents in World War II. Some 16.1 million Americans served in the military during the war. There were 407,316 deaths and 671,278 wounded.

Worldwide, 690 million people fought. There were 72 million combat deaths plus 6 million Jews killed in the holocaust.

Yet from those horrors — arguably the worst man has ever inflicted upon man — Americans came home not intent on seeking revenge or enjoying the spoils of war but to rebuild this country and the world.

We didn’t enslave the losers. Instead we oversaw the rebirth of Japan, Germany, and Italy as well as scores of other countries devastated by the war. We also, for better or worse, set the United States on a course to play global cop in an effort not to have a third world war.

The returning soldiers were the ones that set things in motion to put a man on the moon, to lay the foundation of the Internet and its unparalleled freedom, to substantially increase food production, find cures for disease that have long-ravaged mankind, and exported the knowhow and technology to reduce famine, the rampant spread of disease, and sanitary living conditions.

The spoils, in other words, for the first time in history no longer went to the victors as the victors were intent — perhaps a bit starry-eyed — to reduce human misery and head off more wars way beyond our borders.

And they had a conscience. They debated — as we still do — the decision to drop the bomb. There’s little doubt the bomb saved countless American and Japanese lives by avoiding a prolonged and deadly invasion of Japan.

The mural is my personal favorite. That’s because everything I enjoy today would have been impossible without the sacrifices those men and women made.

It is a powerful piece of public art. And it certainly captures our history and tells a story — two of the objectives listed over a dozen years ago by a fledging group known as the Manteca Mural Society.

The murals have become the soul of downtown.

They serve not just silent and colorful tellers of Manteca’s history, culture, people, and economy but as a way to unite everyone who has ever called Manteca home.

Tom Wilson — along with his bride Gayl — hatched the idea of murals around Manteca.

Before the first mural graced the wall of Century Furniture, Tom noted that “murals can be powerful public works of art.”

If you doubt that, go take a look at the Spirit of America. Better yet, take a few minutes to hear the respective stories of those whose faces are on the mural during the dedication ceremonies this Saturday at 12:30 p.m.

The men and women who served in World War II are indeed representative of this nation’s spirit.

Freedom isn’t secured by a piece of paper or just wishing. It is secured by men like Bud Dickman and Bill Castillo as well as women like Doris (Knodt) Williams.

We are indebted to them for their selfless acts and for our liberties.


This column is the opinion of executive editor, Dennis Wyatt, and does not necessarily represent the opinion of The Bulletin or Morris Newspaper Corp. of CA.  He can be contacted at dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com or 209.249.3519.